Everything I find about this is from several years ago. But, I think I'm seeing similar behavior when I click on some website page links. The page goes blank and the address bar shows about:blank. This is with IE10 on Win7 64bit SP1 and all updates. Eventually, I find a way to get to the page, so I was only mildly annoyed. But, it was odd enough that I started to worry. I run ESS v7 as my realtime protection. I ran Malwarebytes quickscan which found nothing. I'm now running a full scan. I normally have ESS set to do a deep scan on Saturday night anyway.
I'm careful (my wife would say obsessive) about following safe internet practices. Still ESS has blocked an occasional site because some malware script was running in a banner ad, so, I won't be so naive as to think I couldn't be infected! :huh:

I guess there are 2 things.
1) Has anyone experienced this recently?
2) A heads-up that this could be rearing its head again.

2014-01-19, 03:40

Banyarola

I have had that happened also on several occasions.

There may be a lot of reasons but one I am familiar with is the link is no good or the web page the link points to is no longer available.

It never really concerned me that much when it happens.

2014-01-19, 10:49

CLiNT

Browser hijacking is an ever present problem, you can get it from malware, and you can also get it from adware.
check through your listing of installed programs. Sometimes other programs are installed along with the intended ones
that are associated with non malicious adware, browser hijacks, and other nuisances.

Here is one of my current favorites:
AdwCleaner Version:3.017 by Xplode.

2014-01-19, 15:01

DonH.

I asked others to try the links to make sure it was just me. The URL that shows when hovering is full and correct. That's what started me thinking browser hijack. I use Open DNS, which further narrows the issue to my system. Deep scans by Esset Smart Security and Malwarebytes didn't turn up anything. I'm going to try Clint's suggestion. I may also try scanning from SafeMode or a rescue disc.

2014-01-19, 15:44

DonH.

I ran AdwCleaner. It found a few registry keys that it deleted when it restarted the computer. But the problem remains. Odd that it's just the one site and just one link. Guess it's time to try SafeMode scans.

2014-01-19, 21:29

CLiNT

Maybe it's the site that's having the issues.

2014-01-20, 05:21

Banyarola

Well, the easiest way to determine that is if a link was posted here of the bad site and see if others have the same problem.

2014-01-20, 09:07

DonH.

Go to www.ancestry.com . Dropdown Leaning Center on the main menu and choose Help - FAQ. I used to get there by clicking Get Help in the upper right of the top header area. Now, it too results in about:blank and a blank white screen. Hover either link and the tooltip shows the proper link.

2014-01-20, 10:15

Banyarola

It works fine for me..

Both ways work for me.

2014-01-20, 11:01

satrow

I see that dropdown FAQ link as ending with: offerid=0:679:0 (offerid=0%3a679%3a0), it's possible that some anti-spyware plugin or auto-starting software is 'seeing' this as Adware and blocking the link.

2014-01-21, 09:19

DonH.

Hmmm...I saw the offered= and wondered if it could be the root of the issue. But the Get Help link looks like a straight forward link. But...instead of staying on ancestry.com, I'm seeing it going to ancestry.custhelp.com. Changing the domain may also be a trigger. I've never seen the behavior, but each new browser update seems to create new and strange issues (I own, design, and develop a website).

2014-01-21, 12:48

satrow

It's possibly a web plugin/filter from an AV or 3rd party firewall, if so, you may be able to whitelist the site.

2014-01-25, 15:27

DonH.

Thanks Satrow,
You gave me the idea. I opened IE > Tools > Internet Options > Security > Sites and REMOVED *.ancestry.com. Now everything works as it should. I remembered having to do that with another site some time ago. Don't know why it worked, but it did. :D